FOOD FOR TEENS; BREAKING BAD HABITS AND LIVING ABOVE SIN

Habit is a thing you do often and almost without thinking, especially something that is hard to stop. Bad habits are dangerous lifestyles that is almost impossible to stop even though it leads a person closer and closer to his or her death. 

Every believer old or young has dealt with or is dealing with one or more bad habits or sin which they need to overcome to become better believers. Our classic example for this topic is none other than Apsotle Paul, in Romans 7:15-25, “For that which I do I allow not: for what I would, that do I not: but what I hate, that I do. If then I do that which I would not, I consent unto the law that it is good. Now then it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me. For I know that in me (that is in my flesh) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not. For the good that I would, I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do. Now if I do that I would not, it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me.” After he described all his effort towards living a sin free life. In verse 24 he went ahead and said, “O wretched man that I am! Who shall deliver me from the body of this death? I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord so then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin.” 

This chapter is such an interesting one, as you see the struggles Apostle Paul went through in his desire to live a life free from sin and bad habits but this same Apostle paul in 1st Corinthians 9:27, “But I keep under my body and bring it into subjection: lest that by any means, when I have preached to others I myself should be a castaway.” 

How did he move from being this wretched man who could not deal with sin in his flesh to this man who was able to keep his flesh under subjection? Below are the practical steps with which we can destroy the strong holds of sin and negative habits in our lives. 

1. With your mind, serve the law of God (Romans 7:25). The first step to breaking the bad and sinful habits or lifestyle is by obeying God’s word in your mind. Let God’s word be the only authority that governs your mind, let God be true and every man a lair. It is so important that you serve God in your mind if you want to succeed as a believer. Jesus Christ came and showed us that you don’t have to sin physically before it is counted unto you as a sin. He told us that if you sin in your heart or your thought process, you have sinned. Likewise Apostle Paul was trying to show us the same principle, that if you will ever live above sin, it must start from your heart (mind). He went further to explain in Romans 8:2, “For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death.” Romans 12:2, “And be not conformed to this world but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good and acceptable, and perfect will of God.” 

The truth is once your thought process is governed by God’s word, you know what happens? The power of sin begins to break in your life. 2nd Corinthians 3:18, “But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the spirit of the Lord.” As you look at God with your mind’s eye continually you begin to change into the same image. 

What does it really mean when the Bible says be ye doers of God’s word and not hearers only? Let’s look at James 1:25, “But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed.” The man whose heart is continually on God’s word and does not forget what God says concerning any situation he/she finds themselves, he said this man will do the will of God in that situation. That is why Isaiah 26:3 says, “Thou will keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on thee; because he trusteth in thee.” When you keep your attention of God’s word, your trust in Him increases. 

A man whose heart and mind is filled with God’s word is spiritually minded but the man whose mind is filled with the wisdom of the flesh is carnally minded and the Bible tells us his outcome in Romans 8:5-6, “For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the spirit the things of the Spirit. For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.” You see that to walk in the spirit your mind must be filled with the laws of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus. 

2. Speak the Word: No matter how much of the word you have in your heart or mind, if you do not speak it, you have not fully activated it to work for you. Check out what James has to say concerning this in James 3:2-3, “For in many things we offend all, if any man offend not in word, the same is a perfect man, and able also to bridle the whole body. Behold we put bits in horses mouths, that they may obey us: and we turn about their whole body. 

Apostle James helps us to see that if you want to control a horse, God in His infinite wisdom has made it so that you must first control its mouth and then its whole body will obey you. Likewise, if you want to control your whole body you must first learn to control your tongue then your whole body will obey you. 

The Bible says, out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks, this is why it is so important that God’s word fills your heart and mind, which then finds expression in your words and then controls the ship of your life. 

Finally, Deuteronomy 30:14, “But the word is very nigh unto thee, in thy mouth, and in thy heart, that thou mayest do it.” You want to live above sin? Put the word of God in your heart and speak it with your mouth continually and you will see that the ability to do what it says will increase in you and then you will live above sin and mortify the works of the flesh in Jesus name. 

See you next month. God bless you.